Device for interchangeable attachment of accessories to hair ties

ABSTRACT

A hair tie accessory that allows hair ties to be inserted into the hair accessory attachment easily but which prevents the elastic hair tie from being released from the hair tie accessory attachment during normal use. A hook is used to attach and retain the elastic band and a retention element guides the hair tie while in use to prevent the hair tie from detaching from the hook.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. provisional application 62/366,262 filed Jul. 25, 2016,the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

Embodiments of the subject of the invention described herein relates tothe general field of hair accessories, and more specifically to a devicefor attaching decorative or functional objects to elastic hair ties.

Discussion of the Background

Elastic hair ties such as hair bands, rubber bands, pony tail holders,and head wraps are commonly used to contain and style hair and aregenerally known in the art.

Elastic hair ties come in a variety of types, shapes, sizes, and colorsto satisfy a wide range of uses for containing, guiding, and retaininghair. The two most common types of hair ties include continuous loophair ties, in which the hair tie has no end, and non-continuous hairties, in which the hair tie has two ends and must be tied off to createa loop to contain hair. The shape of the hair ties also varies from, forexample, a band cross sectional shape to create the loop. Other commonshapes for the cross section include round, square, and flat strip butmay also include square, oval, or variations on those. In addition tothe cross section, some elastic hair ties will spiral-like a pig tailwhile creating a continuous loop. A variety of sizes are also used toaccommodate different size bundles of hair. Smaller hair ties arecommonly used to create ponytails, pigtails, and constrain the end ofbraids. Larger hair ties are commonly used for thicker bundles of hairsuch as curly hair or for retaining hair across the entire head.

Elastic hair ties commonly come with decorative objects such as flowers,jewels, gems, precious metal ornaments, lights, bows, and a variety ofother objects attached to the elastic hair tie. When these decorativeobjects are permanently affixed to an elastic hair tie, it prevents theuser from using a different hair tie color, shape, style, or size withthat decorative object. Additionally, given that elastic hair tiesregularly wear out due to the elastic losing elasticity or breakageduring use, if the worn out or broken hair tie is permanently attachedto a decorative object, the decorative object will usually be discardedwith the worn out or broken elastic hair tie. The disposable nature ofthese hair ties with decorative objects limits the types of materialsand construction methods that are economically feasible to include withthe hair tie.

There is a need for an improved device for hair accessories which can beattached and removed from hair ties so that the hair accessory can bereused when a hair tie wears out.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to an accessory for hair ties whichallows for easy attachment and removal of hair ties from the hair tieaccessory to allow for the use of the hair tie accessory with multiplehair ties.

According to one embodiment of the invention the hair tie accessoryincludes a base which includes a retention surface; a hook, whichincludes a barb and a throat which retains the hair tie against theretention surface; and a hair tie guide feature which guides the hairtie in to the hook while in use.

According to other embodiments of the invention the hair tie accessorymay include a decorative element, communication device, taperedinsertion feature, or a relief channel.

According to one embodiment of the invention the hair tie accessoryincludes a base which includes a retention surface; more than one hookin which each hook includes a barb and a throat which retain the hairtie against the retention surface; and a hair tie guide which guides thehair tie in to at least one of the hooks while in use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a top view of the hair tie guide feature (1), hook (2), andbarb (4) without the base (3)

FIG. 2 show a bottom view of the hair tie guide feature (1), hook (2),and base (3).

FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the hair tie guide feature (1), hook(2), and base (3) to better illustrate the location of the barb (4)relative to the base (3).

FIG. 4 shows the assembly from FIG. 3, showing the hair tie (5), and thetapered insertion feature (6). This figure shows the hair tie (5)interfacing with the tapered insertion feature (6) prior to insertion ofthe hair tie (5).

FIG. 5 shows the assembly from FIG. 3 as the deformed hair tie (5)travels past the barb (4) into the throat (7) of the hook (2).

FIG. 6 shows the assembly from FIG. 3 with the hair tie (5) captured inthe throat (7) of the hook (2).

FIG. 7 shows the assembly from FIG. 3 illustrating how the hair tieguide feature (1) prevents the hair tie (5) from passing the barb (4)and leaving the throat (7).

FIG. 8 shows the hair tie accessory (12) with a decorative element (8)

FIG. 9 shows the hair tie accessory (12) with a communication device(9).

FIG. 10 illustrates the base (3), hair tie guide feature (1) and hairtie (5) as a side view while being worn by a user (11) in a ponytail(10).

FIG. 11 shows a cross section of an embodiment of the hair tie accessory(12) with a vertical throat (7) portion adjacent to the barb (4).

FIG. 12 shows an isometric view of an embodiment of the hair tieaccessory (12) with a relief channel (13) cut into the hair tie guidefeature (1) for the hair tie (5).

FIG. 13 shows an isometric view of an embodiment of the hair tie withthe base (3) not shown which shows the tapered removal feature (35)

FIG. 14 shows an isometric view of an embodiment with multiple hooks (2)with no base (3) to better illustrate the position of the hooks (2).

FIG. 15 shows the embodiment form FIG. 14 as an isometric view from thebottom with the base (3) showing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following description of the exemplary embodiments refers to theaccompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawingsidentify the same or similar element. The following detailed descriptiondoes not limit the invention. Instead, the scope of the invention isdefined by the appended claims.

Reference throughout the specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” or similar phrase means that a particular feature, structureor characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment of the subject matter disclosed. Thus, theappearance of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” orsimilar phrase in various places throughout the specification is notnecessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, the particularfeatures, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitablemanner in one or more embodiments.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed towards a device forattaching accessories to a hair tie (5) henceforth referred to as hairtie accessory (12). The hair tie accessory (12) is configured in such away so that the user can easily install and remove hair ties (5) fromthe hair tie accessory (12) but remains securely attached to the hairtie (5) while in use, in the hair, or stored. By allowing the user toremove and replace the hair tie (5) that is attached to the hair tieaccessory (12), the user can continue to use the hair tie accessory (12)when the hair tie (5) wears out or when a different style or color ofhair tie (5) is desired for a given hairstyle. An exemplary embodimentshown in FIG. 10 illustrates how the hair tie accessory (12) may be wornin a ponytail-type hairstyle. The hair tie accessory (12) and hair tie(5) may be used in a number of other ways including wearing the hair tie(5) and hair tie accessory (12) on the wrist as a bracelet, wrappedaround a finger as a ring, or looped onto another accessory to transportthe hair tie (5) and hair tie accessory (12) when not in use.

Exemplary embodiments include a base member (3), a hook (2), and a hairtie guide feature (1) which surrounds the hook (2). The hook (2), inconcert with the base (3) connects the hair tie (5) to the hair tieaccessory (12) and hair tie guide feature (1) aids in the retention ofthe hair tie (5) by guiding the hair tie in to the hook (2) when it ispulled in a direction that would otherwise pull the hair tie (5) out ofthe hook (2). In exemplary embodiments, the hair tie (5) is pulled in tothe hook (2) where it is retained by the hook (2) and base (3). When thehair tie is pulled in a direction that would pull it out of the hook (2)and base (3), the hair tie guide feature (1) directs the hair tie (5) sothat it pulls the hair tie (5) further in to the hook (2). The hair tie(5) may be installed in the hair tie accessory (12) by inserting thehair tie (5) in to the space between the hook (2) and hair tie guidefeature (1), illustrated in FIG. 4, and pulling the hair tie (5) intowards the hook (2), illustrated in FIG. 5. To remove the hair tie (5),the hair tie (5) may be pinched close to the hair tie accessory (12) andtwisted until the hair tie (5) releases from the hook (2), or the hairtie (5) may be cut and pulled out of the hook (2).

In exemplary embodiments of the invention, the base (3) includes a baseretention surface (20), which is located opposite the hook (2) andprevents the hair tie, once inserted into the hair tie accessory (12),from being removed from the top of the hair tie accessory (12).Exemplary embodiments may also include one or more decorative feature(8) such as jewels, precious metals or gems; or a functional element (9)such as a light, tool, or electronic communication device. In theexemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the base member (2) includes adecorative element (8) that can be made from jewels, precious metals,wood designs, leather, ribbons, bows, painted or printed designs, orplastics as seen in FIG. 8.

In another exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the base (3) mayinclude one or more communication device (9) such as a light, electronicsignaling device, wireless transmitter, electronic data collectionapparatus, or reflector.

In exemplary embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-3 the hook (2) includes atapered insertion feature (6) which aides in the insertion of a hair tie(5) in to the hook (2), a throat (7) which secures the hair tie (5)against the retention surface (20), and a barb (4) which defines thepoint of the narrowest gap between the hook (2) and retention surface(20). The tapered insertion feature (6), throat (7) and barb (4) areoriented up towards the retention surface (20). FIGS. 4-6 illustrate thefunction of the tapered insertion feature (6) as an elastic hair tie (5)is inserted in to the hair tie accessory (12). The hair tie (5) isinserted into the hair tie accessory (12) in the space between thetapered insertion feature (6) and the retention surface (20), seen inFIG. 4, and pulled in towards the hook (2). As the hair tie is pulled into the hair tie accessory (12), the taper of the tapered insertionfeature (6) guides the hair tie (5) smoothly up to the barb (4) and, ifthe hair tie (5) has to compress to fit past the barb (4), decreases theforce required to pull the hair tie (5) in to the hook (2). The hair tie(5), if larger than the gap between the retention surface (20) and thebarb (4), compresses past the barb (4) as seen in FIG. 5 and then oncepast the barb (4) expands in to the throat (7) of the hook (3) as seenin FIG. 6. In certain exemplary embodiments such as the embodiment inFIGS. 1-3, the tapered insertion feature (6) includes a flat surfacewhereas other exemplary embodiments such as the embodiment in FIG. 11may include a tapered insertion feature (6) with a curved surface. Inexemplary embodiments, the hook (2) includes a throat (7) which preventsthe hair tie (5) from pulling out from the bottom and side of the hairtie accessory (12). The throat (7) geometry closest to the barb (4)effects the removal force for the hair tie (5). In an exemplaryembodiment shown in FIG. 11 the throat (7) nearest to the barb (4)includes a vertical section extending to the base of the throat (7)which increases the removal force of the hair tie (12) when compared tothe rounded throat (7) in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-7. Certainother embodiments may vary the distance between the barb (4) and theretention surface (20) and the size of the throat (7) to allow for theinsertion of larger hair tie (5) cross sections. In one exemplaryembodiment shown in FIG. 13, the hook (2) includes an tapered removalfeature (35) which aids in the removal of the hair tie (5) when the hairtie (5) is twisted around the hook (3) by guiding the hair tie (5) overthe barb (4) in a gradual motion.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-7, the hair tie guidefeature (1) aides the hook (2) and barb (4) in retaining the hair tie(5) in the throat (7) of the hook (2) by guiding the hair tie (5) in tothe throat (7) rather than over the barb (4). The guiding function ofthe hair tie guide feature (1) can be seen in FIG. 7 which shows a crosssection of an exemplary embodiment with a hair tie (5) installed in thehook (2). The hair tie guide feature (1) limits the angle that the hairtie (5) can be pulled in relative to the throat (7) and barb (4) whichsignificantly reduces the chances the hair tie (5) will be pulled outthrough the space between the barb (4) and the retention surface (20).In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-7 the hair tie guidefeature (1) substantially surrounds the hook (2). Certain otherembodiments of the invention may vary the offset of the hair tie guidefeature (1) from the base (3) as well as the distance between the hook(2) and the hair tie guide feature (1) at various points around the hook(2) to modify the angle at which the hair tie (5) is pulled in to thethroat (7). One exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 12 includes a reliefchannel (30) for the hair tie (5) to lay in when installed in the hairtie accessory (12). The relief channel (30) allows the hair tieaccessory (12) to lay closer to the retention surface (20) and reducesthe angle at which the hair tie (5) exits the hook (2) which allows thehair tie accessory (12) to sit flat against the wrist or hair when worn.

In one exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the hair tieaccessory (12) includes a second hook (2) to aid in retention of thehair tie (5). Certain other embodiments of the invention may include 3or more hooks (2) to aid in the hair tie (5) retention. In certain otherembodiments, which include multiple hooks (2), the hair tie accessory(12) may be attached to multiple hair ties (5) for more elaboratehairstyles that may require multiple hair ties (5).

The hair tie accessory (12) can be manufactured with a wide variety ofmaterials and processes which are commonly known in the art. Certainembodiments may use metal, plastic, gems, woods, rubbers, ceramics,textiles, leathers, and composites or some combination of thesematerials. Certain embodiments may use a more rigid material for thebase (3), hook (2), and hair tie guide feature (1) such as metal,plastic, wood, high durometer rubbers, composites or ceramics. The hairtie accessory (12) may be manufactured using any processes appropriatefor the selected material(s) and may include machining, casting,injection molding, 3d printing, bonding, welding, or forging.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for attaching accessories to hair tiescomprising: a base with a retention surface; a hook comprised of a barband a throat, wherein the barb and throat are oriented towards the baseand the barb and throat are configured to capture a hair tie against theretention surface; and a hair tie guide element which is configured toguide and secure the attached hair tie in to the throat of the hook. 2.The hair tie accessory of claim 1 wherein the hook further comprises atapered insertion feature.
 3. The hair tie accessory of claim 1 whereinthe retention element further includes a relief channel.
 4. The hair tieaccessory of claim 1 wherein the base further comprises at least onedecorative element.
 5. The hair tie accessory of claim 1 wherein thebase further comprises of at least one communication device.
 6. The hairtie accessory of claim 1 wherein the hook is further comprised of atleast one tapered removal feature.
 7. A device for attaching accessoriesto hair ties comprising: a base with a retention surface; more than onehook where each hook is comprised of a barb and a throat, wherein thebarb and throat are oriented towards the base and the barb and throatare configured to capture a hair tie against the base retention surface;and a hair tie guide element which is configured to guide and secure theattached hair tie in to the throat of the hook.
 8. The hair tieaccessory of claim 7 wherein at least one hook further comprises atapered insertion feature.
 9. The hair tie accessory of claim 7 whereinthe retention element further includes a relief channel.
 10. The hairtie accessory of claim 7 wherein the base further comprises at least onedecorative element.
 11. The hair tie accessory of claim 7 wherein thebase further comprises of at least one communication device.
 12. Thehair tie accessory of claim 7 wherein at least one hook furthercomprises at least one tapered removal feature.